Twitter is a great tool for engagement. Yes you should use twitter to build links. You find like minded individuals. You share content with them. You tweet out their good content. You make comments on their blogs. You get invited to guest post. You build relationships, you build links. The best links come from humans, not bots, not tools, HUMANS.

In the same stroke. A relationship is about give and take. Again, yes, you should use twitter to build links. But tweeting out self promoting links every 5 minutes, or 10, or even hourly just to build links will sabotage your relationships. ( see rule #3 Thou Shalt Not Blatantly Self-Promote ) So I try to avoid too much self promotion on my own twitter stream. I don’t use my twitter stream to build links for me. I don’t want to loose influence with peers by flooding my twitter stream with ME, ME, ME. I know, as a pest control guy I probably don’t carry too much influence… Even more the reason to guard what little I may have.

No relationships = No Links

FYI- The best links I get and give from twitter usually come from behind the DM curtain.

Now when building a link you get the option to simply link back to one of your articles on wordpress. Good move wordpress. This pest control guy gives this 2 thumbs up! We like simple and we like links!

Apparently this tweet was liked, as I received some mentions on it. This concept is the summation of a key element in search engine rankings and therefore the core of gaining search engine rankings.

Is Content King?

The search engines want to believe that the best content on the internet will win. They gauge this by links. If you like something then you will share it with others by linking to it. Who hasn’t gotten an email with a link in it to a funny video. Funny is almost always likable. Who doesn’t like things that are funny?… Okay maybe its not best to crack a joke when in a heated argument with a wife. But let’s not get into timing right now. The idea of the search engine tallying up links is to find the sites that are most liked by all. Content should incite people to like you. Content should give people a reason to link to you.

Offline Likability = Online Linkability

To expand this concept one step further, I believe your offline likability is also proportionate to your online link-ability. This is going beyond what the search engine would expect. Search Engine’s believe that people more likely to naturally link to an awesome hotel’s website after having a fantastic weekend of sterling customer service. Hence the best hotel wins. I ..Perhaps. But popularity of lesser hotels may out weigh the likability of awesome less known hotels. I believe we are now taking this one step further. I am more compelled to share articles from individuals that I know and like. I win more links from people I meet and establish a relationship with. Take for instance Dennis G., he’s likable and thus linkable. I am much more likely to link to Ebay after having met Dennis.

As one comment I received stated… “Wow, thanks for that. I have to summarize today why losing links is a big deal, ane explain why they are going to lose their rankings.”

Glad I could help. =)

“So this is good and dandy for individuals but what about businesses. Are we in business to be friends with people?”

If you have not figured out the new online order, YES, YOU NEED TO MAKE FRIENDS. Granted, being likable does not mean being buddy-buddy. You don’t need to be a BFF. But as a business you do need to serve a purpose and people need to like you doing that service. Disney probably puts it the best:

“Do what you do so well, that the people who see you do it, will want to see you do it again, and will bring others to see you do it.“

Adding a smile to your service helps bring them back for more. Being friendly helps them share your business with their friends. In today’s online world this is amplified over several thousand social connections. Social media works best for those that know how to act socially acceptable and be sociable. I am a pest control guy. My first priority is to get rid of bugs, my second is to make you smile a little longer.

Google is now blacklisting websites on a per keyword base. Per Annie Cushing’s presentation on “Look before you Link”.

Annie presented the fact that Google now has trip wires on keyword linking and link building. She mentioned determining the amount of inbound links on a per keyword base in comparison with the amount of brand links a site has. “Quality vs Quantity” was also discussed as the conference was presented with “Brute force link building being thrown out the window.” Big brands are getting away with link spam because they have enough back links to their brand name…. Use SEOmoz for anchor text analysis. “First thing you ask when doing a link audit is if they have a history of link building? Have they bought links?” Annie also gave a plug for MajesticSEO, and using their tools to determine if there were any changes in link building velocity. Spikes in linkscape could get you penalized. Sitewide links are a big red flag.

A few of my Twitter notes:

Understand when you have tripped the filter wire. #BlueGlassFL

Hmmmm…. Is Google now open to bowling per keyword with the new filter? #BlueGlassFL

If all your links have the same anchor text then #YouMightBeSEOchallenged

If Google is as smart as the IRS then they will weed out the corrupt link building websites in the same way the IRS finds a bad accountant and then targets all his/her clients. … I believe Google is at least as smart as the IRS… and probably smarter. … although I am still amazed that two national pest control companies went from under 10,000 links to over 100,000 links in one year… I know bedbugs have been a hot topic, but really? Should branding really be that important?

“Poor Use of Social Media Has Negative, Long-Lasting Effects… perception.” Yes.

“it is important we understand what metrics matter”… What you actually want customers and not just traffic??? (sarcasm)

Love it. The only 2 things I would disagree with… just a little…

1- “Unlike most marketing, the human element places a number of variables and issues that need to be taken into account (with social media)”

That should be all marketing. If you are not marketing to the human element then your marketing is ineffective. Per Seth Godin, “Mass marketing needs big numbers because it is ignored by the masses.” I don’t think Asa Chandler began using coupons to “brand” Coke. He used them to give away free drinks “to people”, the human element. So in my opinion, all marketing needs that key element.

2- I’d like to say that spam is useless, but honestly, we both know that’s not true. If they weren’t making money and sales from it, they wouldn’t be doing it.

I must disagree. Just because everyone is doing it and just because no one is doing cannot be an accurate way to measure something. Just because some people win the lottery does not make gambling a success. Just because no one has ever built a livable shelter on Mars does not mean it won’t work.

.. But again, I love the article overall… and don’t mind me I am just a pest control guy. =)